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Goodells Name Law School Classroom for Tiger Fund Founder

On Monday, April 16 at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, law alumni Bill and Betsy Goodell dedicated the Julian H. Robertson Jr. Classroom in honor of Julian Robertson, founder of the Tiger Management Corporation investment firm and the Robertson Foundation.

Robertson is credited with turning $8 million in start-up capital in 1980 into a fund worth more than $22 billion at its peak in the late 1990s. Robertson closed the fund in 2000 when it was valued at $6.5 billion.

Today, Robertson is an active philanthropist and serves on a number of organization and university boards. He is the founder and benefactor of the Robertson Scholars Program, which awards a merit scholarship for four-year full-tuition and travel funding for 36 UNC and Duke University students each year. He remains a staunch supporter in the campaign to stop global warming. He also is active as an investor and developer in New Zealand, where he spends much of his time.

"Betsy and I wanted to have Julian Robertson's name associated with this law school because Julian's commitment to integrity resonates so richly with our values at W&L," said Goodell during the dedication. "As one writer noted about General Lee, leaders transmit values, and embrace truth and integrity by walking their talk. By doing that consistently and unapologetically for the 27 years of Tiger's existence, Julian has built an organization with a reputation for unimpeachable ethics."

Josie Robertson, Julian Robertson, Betsy Goodell, and Bill Goodell

In addition to the classroom, Robertson has some family ties to W&L Law School. His uncle, Kennon C. Whittle, and great uncle, Stafford G. Whittle, both studied at W&L. Kennon Whittle received his LL.B. from W&L in 1914 and went on to become a Virginia State Supreme Court judge.

Bill Goodell, a former Law Council president, joined King & Spalding in Atlanta after graduating from the School of Law in 1980. He became partner in 1987 and was the Partnership Secretary from 1987-92. He joined Tiger Management LLC in May 1995 and served as general counsel until 2000, when he was hired as Chief Administrative Officer for Moore Capital Management. In 2003 he accepted the position as president of The Robertson Foundation.

Betsy Callicott Goodell, also a 1980 graduate of the law school, worked with Delta Airlines from 1988-1993. She is the Law Class Agent for the Class of 1980 and is a past chair of the Law Annual Fund.

Betsy's and Bill's daughter Jackie is a freshman at Washington and Lee.